Relevant Matter
Public policy or programme
Public Policy Area
Food
Period
1 May, 2025 to 31 Aug, 2025
Specific Details
Green Public Procurement
Intended results
To highlight that the Green Public Procurement Strategy and Action Plan requires that a minimum of 10% of food purchased via public procurement must now be certified organic. While it is positive that the strategy calls for additional organic produce to be used, it does not state that the 10% of certified organic produce must be of Irish origin.
To emphasise that the organic agriculture sector in Ireland is still developing and faces substantial challenges in terms of market access, scale, and viability. To maintain and grow the Irish organic sector, it will require reliable domestic markets to make this change economically sustainable.
Public procurement could and should serve as a powerful tool to stimulate demand for Irish organic products, offering security to farmers and encouraging further conversion.
That, without a clear requirement or strong preference for Irish-sourced organic produce, there is a real risk that this policy will result in increased imports, delivering minimal benefit to Irish organic farmers and food producers. This would be a missed opportunity to bolster rural economies, reduce food miles, and strengthen Ireland's food sovereignty.
To seek the opportunity to meet with Minister for Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and the Marine at his earliest convenience to discuss this and other relevant organic farming issues.
Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity
Francie Gorman IFA President, John Fitzpatrick IFA Organic Project Team Chair, Niamh Brennan IFA Senior Policy Executive
Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?)
No
Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign?
No
Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client?
No
Lobbying activity
The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.
Informal communication (2-5)
Designated public officials lobbied
The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them.
As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.
Brian Purcell
Special Adviser (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)
Martin Heydon
Minister (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)